Strange
by these-dreams-go-on
Summary: A Kol/Katherine romantic drabble.


A/N- I actually forgot that I had written this one.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson wondered if this situation rendered him un-Original.

Wait…what was the phrase people were using these days? Oh yeah, _basic_.

He was basic now.

Because, like apparently every male supernatural creature in existence, he'd fallen in love with Katherine Pierce.

The woman who was famous for destroying brothers.

Not that it'd take her well-honed skills to destroy his relationship with Elijah.

Hell, he could probably just leave a coffee cup in the kitchen sink and his older brother would go running to Klaus for an excuse to dagger him again.

Still, as far as bad decisions went, falling for the woman who had over _five centuries_ of complicated with his two older brothers who only stopped worshipping themselves long enough to worship each other was right up there with conspiring with Mikael take said brothers out.

Which Katherine had actually done on two- _possibly three_ \- occasions.

Yet, here Kol was, leaning against the doorjamb in the brightly lit doctor's office, admiring the beautiful curve of Katherine's neck as she turns her face to the side and winces,

"Alright love?" he asks, pushing his way into the room, setting the medical transport bag full of blood on the ground. Katherine doesn't answer but sees the bag and pales,

"I feel sick," she grumbles, shifting her long, skinny jean clad legs, "I…everything's spinning."

The doctor is compelled to take a fifth of blood from the now human doppelganger so that Nik can have his bloody hybrid army.

She doesn't let anything interfere with that process, not even Katherine visibly losing consciousness.

And Kol knows that giving her his blood to heal would be a monumental screw-up on his part.

Since being delivered to New Orleans in chains, Katherine had been forbidden from receiving any vampire blood, no matter what the circumstance.

Any vampire that tried to give her any enjoyed an afternoon of agony and hallucinations courtesy of Nik's werewolf venom, either followed by an evening of threats or an incurable case of death.

However a nurse passing by helps him revive the doppelganger and then advises him to get some food into her.

As luck would have it, there's a café near the hospital and Kol watches as Katherine orders herself three meals and a large coffee, handing the waitress what he's almost certain is Elijah's wallet.

"I'm…" she glances at him and looks away, clearly embarrassed, "I'm on my period."

He fights his ingrained disgust at the mention of the womanly curse.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I _did_ ," she snaps, "I told both your brothers and even your damn sister. Elijah said it'd be fine, Klaus said he didn't care and Rebekah said she hoped I'd die."

Perhaps that's one of the reasons Kol cares for her, he knows what it is to be ignored by the golden trio. Overlooked and uncared for unless they served a purpose. When Kol had made his way back from the Other Side the only reason he'd actually been welcomed into bloody NOLA was because he had connections with the witches and they were willing to work with him.

Perhaps it's also the fact that even as a human she's stunningly beautiful but he suspects that-for once-he's a lot less superficial than that.

Katherine Pierce is _fun_.

She's snarky, sarcastic and witty.

The first time they met they ended up in an argument that must have lasted a good three hours and were too busy trading insults to actually remember the cause of the fight in the first place.

She's spontaneous.

Even when imprisoned in New Orleans she can find ways to be adventurous and have fun. Kol can't remember the number of times she's texted him or shown up at his door because she wants to go skydiving, hot air ballooning, race car driving… If it can be done in New Orleans, and is safe for humans, Katherine will find it and then find him to partner up with her.

And he loves it.

He loves living every day chasing excitement and experiencing new things.

He loves the adventure and most of all, he loves not being alone.

Because for all his power as one of the first vampires, he's a footnote in history. Brother of Klaus and Elijah. The fourth Original (nobody remembered Finn) who fell outside of the bizarre circle of co-dependency that kept his siblings enchained to one another.

And Katherine Pierce.

The _famous_ Katherine, the woman who danced destruction throughout history, the woman who had half the known supernatural world deeply in love with her and inspired the passion of some of the greatest people in history…

She was _desperately_ lonely.

Kol had first heard about her when Rebekah had told him that Elijah had betrayed Klaus for the second doppelganger. That after five hundred years he had loved another woman enough to turn- even momentarily- away from his beloved half-brother. When she had turned up in New Orleans, Elijah had swept her up into his arms and into his bedroom, keeping her there until Klaus agreed to let her live in return for blood donations every other month. He claimed to be deeply in love with her but Kol had to wonder if that was the truth or just the remnant of a long ago passion.

There couldn't be two people more mismatched for each other than Elijah and Katherine.

Elijah attracted women because he was the last echo of a dying world of chivalric romance, of walks through stunning rose gardens and waltzes across glittering ball rooms. He knew proper tea etiquette and lived in suits. Katherine lived in high heels that could probably kill a man, she adored the twenty-first century, the nightclubs where they could dance until dawn and the bars where everything was available as they sweated to music from around the world.

She loved every gritty truth about the world that spun merrily towards its destruction and she grew lonelier every day that Elijah tried to draw her back to the stuffy old rooms where they first met, back when she was a frightened damsel in distress, too young and naïve to make an independent decision.

Except that Kol is there, trying not to stare like a lovesick fool as she polishes off her food and makes a disgusted face at the poor coffee, already trying to plan their next adventure while calculating how much time he can monopolize before Elijah begins to notice that his little brother is spending more time with his lover than he is.

He's not a fool, he knows that to kiss her would be to risk both their lives.

If Elijah were to find out, Kol would be daggered upon request and Katherine…she would be forced into an even more rigorous blood donation schedule than she already was. Maybe placed in a coma, forced to spend the rest of her days imprisoned in a bed, kept alive only to generate more blood.

He wouldn't do that to her.

He knows that what they're doing now is only existing, not living, but he wouldn't do that to her.

But he's also not as strong as he thinks.

The next time Katherine is due for a blood donation, Kol arranges for a mix-up at the hospital and the compelled is doctor is unavailable while he takes her on a flight over the city at twilight.

That night there's a commotion with the werewolves in the Quarter and when he goes to investigate he finds himself being led into a dusty, forgotten church attic where Katherine is waiting for him.

She steals their first kiss, nervousness poorly hidden beneath her façade.

He steals the next one and from there…well…there's a strange lack of sass in their lovemaking.

It isn't until afterwards when he's cradling her in his arms and she's shivering under an old, musty blanket they'd found that they even think to jest with each other.

"Would you care for me even if I was an only child?" he asks and she shrugs,

"I don't know, I mean I don't even care for you now." she replies.

He laughs and lifts his head to look down at her, his free hand trailing up her arm, marvelling at the bare skin that many had touched and loved but few had ever bothered to understand.

"Are you using me then?" he asks quietly, meeting her dark eyes and seeing into her soul.

"Yes," she says carelessly, "Are you using me?"

"Oh," he chuckles, "Completely."

She rests her head on his chest and smiles, walking her fingers across his stomach

"Isn't that strange?"

"Very" he kisses her hair and wonders how ever they'll survive this.

* * *

Ten years later the legend of Katherine Pierce gains another chapter and the fourth Original brother Kol steps out of the shadows. Accounts vary as to whether he seduced her or she seduced him, or whether they might actually have loved one another.

What is definitely clear is that they set New Orleans alight and fled into the night, they were hunted of course and appeared from time to time. Rome. Venezuela. Hong-Kong.

They stayed in penthouses in bustling cities and bungalows on beach fronts.

They danced their way across Europe and walked across Africa.

They hunted down every wonder known to man and saw it first-hand.

They met people from all walks of life and immersed themselves in every culture they encountered.

Katherine aged of course.

She grew old and their travels grew less frantic, less hurried and more relaxed.

They spent more and more time in the same place as Katherine's hair turned grey and her dancing more sedate.

Their nights began being spent in bed, looking at photos and reliving their wilder days.

Katherine no longer avoided the topic of Kol's brothers and began asking him what he planned to do after… _after_.

Every time she did he silenced her with a kiss and tugged her gently towards another adventure.

But people didn't need to know how Katherine died, they don't need to know where Kol had buried her or how he mourned her, what they left behind.

In the end there was only one important detail that summed up everything that had been important to them.

They had _lived_.

Together.

Isn't that strange?

* * *

No more Kolatherine? from me I'm afraid.


End file.
